Paralyzed since I was 18 years old, I have spent much of the last 30 years thinking about the reasons why the social life of crippled people is so different from those who ambulate on two feet. After reading about the so called Ashley Treatment I decided it was time to write a book about my life as a crippled man. My book, Bad Cripple: A Protest from an Invisible Man, will be published by Counter Punch. I hope my book will completed soon.

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Sunday, July 27, 2014

On the Move

July has been a hectic month. I am moving. I do not like to move. This move has been a long time coming. In fact my life has been a roller coaster the last few years. High highs and the lowest of the lows. My house, a 1959 prefab, was a great place to raise my son. I have many fond memories but it is time to move on. I intend to be a rolling stone for quite some time. I am weary of being a home owner. I do not understand the over attachment to a place and certainly a home. It is not where one live but how one leads life that matters. Home ownership is misleading--a capitalistic myth. One owns a home but what a person really does is manage a building. Well my building is a pain in the ass. In recent weeks my house was hit by lightening and blew out kitchen appliances and electronics that were not unplugged. Just a few days ago the main pipe from the well to my basement burst. At least a foot of water was in my basement and when I opened the door was met with a small tidal wave of water. The plumber noted "you have a great well pump. It will pump about 20 gallons a minute." Sorry I am not impressed. What does impress me are memories. I cherished every minute raising my son. My home, the building I live in, was a tiny part of raising my son. In fact I will miss a tree the most. A purple plum tree. We planted it our first spring in the house. My son was in his digging phase. He dug a giant hole for a very small tree from the Home Depot that comfortably fit in our car. We bought peat moss and read about how to plant and care for a tree. We trimmed that tree every spring. My son grew like a weed and so did the tree. My son is a tall and slender man. The purple plum tree is full and large. Like my son a mature specimen. This spring some 17 years later he needed a ladder to prune some dead branches. The tree is taller than our house. This is a memory that will last a life time.

My move is the reason why there have been few posts in July. I have spent much time discarding the cultural residue, the material items, of our life. This has been liberating. My move will be very simple. Many book boxes. Kitchen stuff--lots of kitchen stuff. No furniture. No chairs, desks, dressers, framed pictures. A clean slate if you will. But even this minimal move has consumed much of my time. So be patient with me. I will get up to speed in the weeks to come. I have much to write about. I am deeply disturbed by what I have been reading about with regard to assisted suicide in the Unite States and especially in the UK. Compassion and Choices has disseminated a video in "celebration of the ADA". To say I am stunned is a major understatement. Talk about nerve! I am excited about the upcoming semester. I will be teaching in the honors program again as well as graduate students. I intend to seriously challenge the graduate students. I will also travel and give many presentations. Ah, the life of an academic. You gotta love it.

4 comments:

Moving is a beast for everyone. I think your timing is perfect Bill. Looks like you've done the toughest parts which are making the decision to move in the first place and deciding what to take with you and what to leave behind. I know you will feel great to be unburdened by this structure and you will enjoy the freedom and great opportunities that await you in future.

Oh Barb you are too kind. The move is going to a pain in the neck. No company rents a van or small truck with hand controls. I do hope we see each other more often as we are much closer. I owe you an email regarding wilkinson.

How preposterous that no hand-controlled truck is readily available for rent. Sending light and smooth energy for a move that is as painless as possible (given that moving house always is a challenge).

Second, Renting a car with hand controls is an exercise in frustration. I will acknowledge rental companies are getting much better than they were in the past. Yet problems abound foremost among them is that upon arrival the requested car cannot be located and a series of excuses (lies) commence. I have learned over the years to call the 800 # of the rental company 48 hours in advance. 24 hour in advance call the pick up location and speak to the manager and I get name of manager on duty. I call the morning or evening before as well. It is likely the car with hand controls will be present when I arrive. My choices of the car being present are 50% Forget choice. I have no choice. I get a crappy American four door sedan that sucks up gas like there is no tomorrow. The only alternative to giant rental agencies such as Hertz and Avis are small companies that rent vans replete with a wheelchair lift. This is costly in the extreme. In short, anyone that needs a rental with hand controls is screwed.